Read Online In Too Deep by Mary Connealy - Free Book Online

to quit his wandering ways. At least now Audra and her daughters were miles and miles away from that ugly hole in the ground.
    â€œWhat are we having for supper, Audra?” Seth, leading the way, eager to get home, pulled his horse back so he could ride alongside them.
    â€œI have no idea.” She looked from Seth to Ethan. “Is there any food in the cabin?”
    Ethan tried to remember. “I haven’t hardly been home since I’ve been home.”
    â€œYou haven’t been home since you’ve been home?” Audra smiled at him. A cold, mean-hearted kind of smile. A shiver of fear raced up Ethan’s back.
    â€œBeing married is kind of strange, isn’t it?” Ethan looked down at Maggie, sitting on the saddle in front of him, flopped over his left arm, dozing. Lily was asleep in Audra’s arms. He had two children.
    Strange for sure.
    â€œI’ll say it is.” Audra shook her head. “I had hoped that man who hurt Rafe and Julia and Seth would be shipped away by now.”
    â€œTracker was my friend.” Seth bent toward Audra to look at Lily.
    Audra shuddered. Ethan sure hoped she was shuddering because of Tracker and not because of Seth. Life could be a trial if Seth made her shudder.
    â€œHe was a bad friend, Seth.” Ethan wondered if Seth would ever start thinking clearly enough to remember Tracker had shot him.
    It wasn’t just being married that was strange.
    â€œThe sheriff said the judge would be in Rawhide soon.” Audra’s worry lines seemed deeper all the time. “I had hoped he’d be locked up in a penitentiary by now.”
    â€œCan you cook, Audra?” Seth asked.
    She smiled.
    Ethan was curious about that, too, and happy to hear a question that wasn’t quite so life-and-death.
    â€œYes, I think I’m a decent cook. I did a lot of cooking before I married Wendell. Julia handled most of it while I lived with her, but I know how.”
    Ethan met her eyes and smiled. “I reckon having a woman around the house will be pleasant.” Then his smile faded. “Unless you’re planning to cry day and night like our ma did.”
    â€œI hardly ever cry.”
    â€œWell, good. If you do feel such an inclination, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t act on it.” Ethan saw the cabin come into view as they rounded a curve in the trail. “We’re home.”
    He pulled his horse to a stop and looked at the pretty cabin nestled in the valley, tucked up against a mountain, with a barn and corral. There was meadowland to the west and north. Horses grazed on lush grass. The mountain shaded them from the worst of the August sun and kept the grass green all summer. Rafe had turned his skilled hand to improving the cabin after Ethan had left.
    â€œThe barn is painted red,” Audra said as she stopped her horse beside him. “A log barn painted red. I’ve never seen that before. The whole place is really beautiful.”
    â€œThat’s Rafe.” Ethan loved his big brother, but right now he was just a touch jealous. “He’s a hand at carpentry. You saw how hard he worked on his own cabin.”
    Audra nodded. “And he said he isn’t close to done with it.”
    â€œOur place didn’t look like this when Pa was alive.” Seth reined his horse to a stop, and they sat, three in a row, staring at home.
    â€œNope, Pa never had much use for prettifying things. He wouldn’t do it himself, and he wouldn’t put up with Rafe doing it. Reckon once Rafe was here alone, he figured he’d run things his way. I got the feeling Rafe was mighty glad to see me. It’d be a lonely place to live with only a bunch of cowhands.”
    Ethan looked at Seth and saw his little brother watching him.
    Ethan said, “We should’ve never left him.”
    â€œAnd now we’re home and Rafe isn’t here,” Seth said.
    â€œLet’s ride in. Audra, the inside is